The results of a consultation to gauge public opinion on
some key areas of bus services are in.
We spend more than £1.1 million per year on supported bus
services. These are bus services that are not operated
commercially and the council decides to fund these services using
public money.
We need to save £47.3 million following the government’s
comprehensive spending review. This represents a saving of £1 in
every £3 that they spend at the moment.
"This means we do not have the choice of carrying on as we are,
and we must consider changes to all of the council’s services,
including supported bus services," said Cllr Elfan Ap Rees, deputy
leader and executive member for transport.
A public survey ran between 18 July and 12 August and we
also consulted a wide range of organisations including bus
operators; town and parish councils;local groups as well as local
community bus services and dial-a-ride operators.
562 responses to the questionnaire were received. The questions
covered things such as bus use, costs and frequency of service.
There was a high level of feedback in support for services in
the rural areas of the district, particularly areas where there are
no alternative services available. There was also a high
level of support for the 121 service, particularly from villages
between Wrington and Bristol where no other services are available.
Other services that had a lot of support included the 83 and 85
services in Weston-super-Mare and the 660 and 692 country
services.
Comments were also made on concessionary travel and the
accessibility and integration of different transport services (for
example rail services).
"Taking the results of the survey into account, what we have
decided to do is to tender for both existing services, and also new
alternatives that may be cheaper. The reason for this is that
we need to test the market to see what is affordable. For
example, there may be operational reasons which mean that a lower
frequency service is not much cheaper than the current provision,"
said Cllr Ap Rees.
"What we want to do is prioritise daytime services which provide
access to employment, shopping and services, and redesign other
services to make them more affordable. We don't want any area
to lose public transport services altogether, but it may be
necessary to introduce something in a different format, such as a
community transport service, or a reduced frequency service."
Cllr Ap Rees added that the council is looking at opportunities
for greater engagement with passengers to allow their feedback to
influence the supported bus network and ways of setting up a local
bus user group are being looked at; providing feedback to the local
operators, both positive and negative, as a result of the survey;
and continuing to work with operators to get commercial bus
services that better suit the needs of local passengers.
Operators are now in the process of submitting tenders to run
services from April next year and decisions on those tenders will
be made in the new year.
The consultation results are available
here.
